Docks Heritage Weekend 2025

On 4th and 5th October, M Shed hosted Docks Heritage Weekend (one of my favourite events of the year) with the support of Bristol Port Company and the Show of Strength Theatre Company.
This is the time when we bring the quayside back to life and give a flavour of what a working port looked like in the 1950s.
Featuring cranes lifting appropriate loads, the capstan in operation, boat trips, and this year we re-jigged things a little so that the steam engine was part of the quayside demonstrations as it shunted wagons around.
The Bristol lorry suffered a leaking radiator hose on Sunday morning which will need repairing, so Henbury did a bit more shunting on the second day. The freshly-painted MOGO van took pride of place.
The storyline of Mr. and Mrs. Purnell this year revolved around their tin wedding anniversary and involved a mop bucket and a tin of beans!
Thanks to Bob Edwardes and Adam White for taking some of these photos.

Docks Heritage Weekend 2021

It’s been a week since the first public outing for the working exhibits in over a year, Docks Heritage Weekend. What a blast! So great to have the volunteers working with the public again. Both Portbury and Henbury were on display and the capstan was back in operation both days, and crane 30 was kept busy loading and unloading the lorry.
Quayside operations were bolstered with audience interaction from the Show of Strength Theatre company.
Thanks for Bob, Bruce and the M Shed social media channels for these photos of the weekend.